You Can Help Protect Our Climate

Why

"...system-level changes to the way human societies use energy and natural resources are necessary to limit global warming to ‘safe’ levels.” Green Business Network 

“Public will, especially as expressed through citizen activism, is an important influence on the policymaker process. Strong public demand increases the likelihood that governments will prioritize climate change action." Environment.Yale.edu

Why

“We can't solve a problem we don't talk about.” Nature.org

How to talk about climate change: 

1. Ask someone what they think about climate change and then listen to their answer. 
2. Connection is more important than facts—identify where you agree about climate change and start there. 
3. Remember—it’s a conversation, not a conquest. 
4. Stay connected to the friend and the conversation rather than arguing or letting your frustration take over—stay kind.

“Change begins with knowledge. More than half of Americans rarely – if ever – talk about climate change because they don’t know enough, are overwhelmed, or think it’s scary.”GreenAmerica.org

Why

Burning fossil fuels:  EIA.gov

“In the United States, most of the emissions of human-caused (anthropogenic) greenhouse gases (GHG) come primarily from burning fossil fuels—coal, natural gas, and petroleum—for energy use.” EIA.gov

“Fossil fuels consist mainly of carbon and hydrogen. When fossil fuels are combusted (burned), oxygen combines with carbon to form CO2 and with hydrogen to form water (H2O). These reactions release heat, which we use for energy.” EIA.gov

“Coal is the dominant CO2 emissions source related to electricity generation.” EIA.gov

Fossil fuels: UN.org

“Energy is at the heart of the climate challenge – and key to the solution.” UN.org

Fossil fuels, “such as coal, oil and gas, are by far the largest contributor to global climate change, accounting for over 75 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 90 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions.” UN.org

Telecommuting “Various studies have found that telecommuting actually reduces driving somewhere between 60 and 90% of commute vehicle miles traveled (VMT). We’ll split the difference and calculate that telework reduces commute miles by about 75%, meaning the new teleworkers could avoid around 164 billion miles driven.” TheRevelator.org

Effect of this change: Reducing energy use at home can “reduce your carbon footprint by up to 900 kilograms of CO2e [carbon dioxide equivalents, which add all emissions and convert to units of carbon dioxide] per year.” UN.org

Why

Using renewables reduces global warming:

“Energy is at the heart of the climate challenge – and key to the solution. Renewable energy sources – which are available in abundance all around us, provided by the sun, wind, water, waste, and heat from the Earth – are replenished by nature and emit little to no greenhouse gases or pollutants into the air.”UN.org

State by state solar summary SEIA.org

List of utilities by state NorthAmerican.com

Effect of this change: “Switching your home from oil, gas or coal-powered energy to renewable sources of energy, such as wind or solar, can reduce your carbon footprint by up to 1.5 tons of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalents—adding up all emissions and converting them to carbon dioxide units) per year.” UN.org

Why

The energy waste along the chain of food production is enormous—growing, harvesting, storing, transporting, cooking, and even decomposing food (releasing methane in landfills) is something that we can do something about.  ClimateRealityProject.org

“According to the World Resources Institute (WRI), around a third of the food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted.” WRI

What happens to food we throw out, that ends up in a landfill? ClimateRealityProject.org

“When we throw out food or leftovers, it goes to a landfill to decompose, which releases methane – a greenhouse gas 86 times more potent than carbon dioxide in trapping heat within our atmosphere over 20 years.” Note that the exact potency of methane compared with CO2 may be estimated in a range; for example, sometimes it is specified as having 24 times the heat-trapping caused by carbon dioxide, which is still extremely potent.  Unlike the use of landfills, composting of food waste makes use of aerobic digestion that does not produce methane.

EAT SUSTAINABLY BBC.com

“Agriculture - together with forestry - accounts for about a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions. Livestock rearing contributes to global warming through the methane gas the animals produce, but also via deforestation to expand pastures, for example.”

Effect of this change: “Cutting your food waste can reduce your carbon footprint by up to 300 kilograms of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalents—adding up all emissions and converting them to carbon dioxide units) per year.” And if you can go vegetarian: “Switching from a mixed to a vegetarian diet can reduce your carbon footprint by up to 500 kilograms of CO2e per year (or up to 900 kilograms for a vegan diet).” UN.org

Why

“Consider just the United States. In 2017, the transportation sector accounted for 29% of the nation’s total emissions.” YaleClimateConnections.org 

“32 square feet of Arctic summer sea ice melts for every airline passenger who flies 2,500 miles.” YaleClimateConnections.org 

“Emissions from light-duty vehicles in the U.S., such as cars and pickup trucks, came to nearly 1.1 billion metric tons of CO2e – about 17% of all carbon emissions in the country.” YaleClimateConnections.org 

“[…]  the rise in electric vehicles also has the potential to make an impact in coming decades,” reducing emissions. YaleClimateConnections.org 

“Cruise travel, meanwhile, poses its own threats to the globe’s climate. The most efficient cruise ships emit three to four times more carbon emissions per passenger than commercial air travel.” YaleClimateConnections.org 

Effect of this change: “Switching from a gasoline or diesel-powered car to an electric vehicle can reduce your carbon footprint by up to 2 tons of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalents—adding up all emissions and converting them to carbon dioxide units) per year. A hybrid vehicle can save you up to 700 kilograms of CO2e per year." UN.org

“Living car-free can reduce your carbon footprint by up to 2 tons of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalents—adding up all emissions and converting them to carbon dioxide units) per year compared to a lifestyle using a car.” UN.org

Why

“By choosing recycled items and supporting recycling, we can reduce energy consumption, direct emissions, and waste. Recycling reduces the collective need for virgin materials, which in turn translates to less use of fossil fuels for converting raw materials.”

“Due to the anaerobic decomposition in landfills, methane gas becomes released into the environment. Methane accounts for 25% of greenhouse gases worldwide.”

Recycling:

• Reduces our dependence on raw materials, thereby curbing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions, and 
• Targets waste reduction, which translates to lower emissions from landfills.

Effect of reducing clothing purchases: Every kilogram of textiles produced generates about 17 kilograms of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalents—adding up all emissions and converting them to carbon dioxide units). Buying fewer new clothes – and other consumer goods – can reduce your carbon footprint and also cut down on waste.

Global effect of this change: “A study by Project Drawdown estimates that between 2020 and 2050, recycling can reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 5.5 - 6.02 gigatons.”

Material-based analysis of recycling: “Recycled aluminum cans use 95% less energy when we compare them to the energy manufacturers need to transform bauxite ore. When manufacturers create recycled paper products from 60% and 100% recycled fiber3, this can save 20% and 80% energy, respectively.”

Why

Consumers: 

• “across all generations—from Baby Boomers to Gen Z—are now willing to spend more for sustainable products. Just two years ago, only 58% of consumers across all generations were willing to spend more for sustainable options. Today, nearly 90% of Gen X consumers said that they would be willing to spend an extra 10% or more for sustainable products, compared to just over 34% two years ago.” Forbes
• “Globally, about 44 percent of consumers said they were more likely to buy from a brand with a clear commitment to sustainability in 2021.” Statista.com

Consumer interest in sustainability: IBM.com

• “3 out of 4 consumers reporting they want to do more to reach their sustainability goals at home, including reducing water and energy consumption, recycling products, and generating renewable energy at home.”
• “3 out of 5 consumers saying socially responsible or sustainable products made up at least half of their last purchase.”
• “62% of personal investors taking sustainability into account in their portfolios.”
• “2 out of 3 respondents say they are more willing to apply for (67%) and accept (68%) jobs from a sustainable company.” 
• “Roughly 1 in 3 consumers say sustainable travel is a priority, ranking environmental impact factors over cost, convenience, and comfort in their purchase decisions. More than 1 in 3 (35%) say they’ve either stopped using personal cars that run on gasoline or use them less due to environmental concerns.

Why

“Greater biodiversity in ecosystems, species, and individuals leads to greater stability. For example, species with high genetic diversity and many populations that are adapted to a wide variety of conditions are more likely to be able to weather disturbances, disease, and climate change.” ReImaginingEducation.org

• “Biodiversity ensures health and food security. Biodiversity underpins global nutrition and food security.
• Biodiversity helps fight disease. Higher rates of biodiversity have been linked to an increase in human health.
• Biodiversity benefits business.
• Biodiversity provides livelihoods.
• Biodiversity protects us.”

“Forests provide us with oxygen, shelter, jobs, water, nourishment and fuel. With so many people dependent on forests, the fate of our forests may determine our own fate as well.” WWF.Panda.org 

They:

• “help prevent erosion and enrich and conserve soil, helping to protect communities from landslides and floods”
• produce “the rich topsoil needed to grow plants and crops. “
• “play an important role in the global water cycle, moving water across the earth by releasing water vapor and capturing rainfall.”
• “filter out pollution and chemicals, improving the quality of water available for human use.” 
• “forests are home to over 80% of terrestrial biodiversity.”
• “the largest storehouses of carbon after the oceans, as they absorb this greenhouse gas from the air and lock it away above and below ground. So, it is no surprise that when we cut down or damage our forests, we release huge amounts of carbon emissions that contribute to the climate crisis.”

Why

From Forbes²: “The climate goal of electrification is a triad: transportation, industry, and buildings.”

Transportation: News.MIT.edu

• “[…] a wholesale replacement of conventional vehicles with electric ones is possible today and could play a significant role in meeting climate change mitigation goals…” 
• This leads to “an approximately 30 percent reduction in emissions from transportation. Deeper emissions cuts would be realized if power plants decarbonize over time.”

Industry: McKinsey.com

• “[…] renewables could produce more than half of the world’s electricity by 2035, at lower prices than fossil-fuel generation.”
• “Industry consumes more energy than any other sector: 149 million terajoules in 2017,” with only 20% of that from electricity.
• “Of all the fuel that industrial companies use for energy, we estimate that almost 50 percent could be replaced with electricity, using technologies available today.” “Electrification of industrial processes that require heat up to approximately 1,000 degrees Celsius does not require a fundamental change in the industrial process setup…”
• “Up to a heat demand of approximately 400 degrees Celsius, electric alternatives to conventional equipment are commercially available”

Buildings: "...electrifying buildings can tackle emissions and improve public health.” WEForum.org

• “30% of emissions in the United States coming from the building sector.”
• “In built up areas, greenhouse gas emissions can result in higher numbers of pollutant-caused deaths and asthma-related illnesses.”
• “Ending fossil fuel combustion for heating and cooling buildings is one of the simplest ways to rapidly reduce these emissions <30% of US GHG>. With the current technology available, building owners can replace old equipment – gas furnaces, hot water heaters and gas stoves – with efficient, all-electric heat pumps that heat and cool buildings, hot water heaters and induction stoves instead.”
• “Globally, air pollution is the leading environmental risk factor for early death and burning fossil fuels is responsible for one in five deaths worldwide.”

²Clemente, Jude. “Electrification To Fight Climate Change: The Challenge Of A Lifetime,” Forbes. April 21, 2021. https://www.forbes.com/sites/judeclemente/2021/04/21/electrification-to-fight-climate-change-the-challenge-of-a-lifetime/?sh=42ecddc05a10. Accessed 3/1/2023.